In his free time, he dedicated himself to scholarly pursuits, which sometimes included astronomical work. He returned to Poland, where he became a church administrator and doctor. Astronomy and astrology were at the time closely related and equally regarded, and Novara had the responsibility of issuing astrological prognostications for Bologna.Ĭopernicus sometimes assisted him in his observations, and Novara exposed him to criticisms both of astrology and of aspects of the Ptolemaic system - founded by the ancient mathematician and astronomer Ptolemy - which placed Earth at the center of the universe.Ĭopernicus later studied at the University of Padua and in 1503 received a doctorate in canon law from the University of Ferrara. While studying at the University of Bologna, he lived for a time in the home of Domenico Maria de Novara, the principal astronomer at the university. He was given the best education of the day and bred for a career in canon (church) law.Īt the University of Krakow (today’s Jagiellonian University), he studied liberal arts, including astronomy and astrology, and then, like many Europeans of his social class, was sent to Italy to study medicine and law. Copernicus was born into a family of well-to-do merchants, and after his father’s death, his uncle–soon to be a bishop–took the boy under his wing. Nicolaus Copernicus was born on Februin Torun, a city in north-central Poland on the Vistula River.
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